It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

XXXIII

He stumbled into his room just in time, before big tears made their way down his cheeks.

So stupid! Fuck, this was all so stupid!!! His relationship with Eddy had always been easy, natural and should have been the one thing unwavering in these most uncertain times. So why did his brain decide now was a good time for fuzzy, warm, tingling, new, confusing feelings towards his best friend?

Because if he knew one thing by now, it was, that what he felt for, or around Eddy wasn't normal, best bro stuff anymore.

And of course, Brett remembered that fucking second possibility Ray had mentioned on their phone call, but no! There was absolutely no way he was going down that road! Because there was also something else he was pretty convinced about: If he really felt like how Ray had said, Eddy sure as hell didn't.

So, what does one do, if one doesn't want to fight or, in this case, face something uncomfortable? One flees and denies the living hell out of it and Brett was going to do exactly that! Fuck with what Ray had said about being honest about his feelings! He simply had no energy left for this bullshit whatsover.

He angrily wiped away his tears and took a deep breath. Enough with being down!
First item on his plan of "Running Away From The Potential Shitty Truth" seemed contraproductive, but inevitable for him: Making sure Eddy was okay! So he took another deep breath, squared his shoulders and opened the door.

Eddy wasn't in the living room. He also wasn't in his own room. Brett frowned and went into their studio, but that guy was nowhere to be found. He grabbed his phone, dialed Eddy's number – and heard something vibrating on the coffee table. With a bad feeling, Brett went back to the living room and saw Eddy's phone glowing on the flat surface. He hung up.

That was odd. Eddy never left the house without his phone. There were actually not many things he could do in Singapore when he wasn't carrying his device, so where could he have gone off to?
Brett got a gut feeling, why Eddy hadn't said anything before he'd left and it made him sick to his stomach. But he decided to put those thoughts away for now, grabbed his keys and went out to look for his best friend.


Singapore was a big place and first,  Brett didn't really know, where to begin. He also suddenly felt a bit silly. Eddy was a grown man and perfectly capable of taking a walk by himself, so maybe he should just go home and wait for his return?

But there would be no peace for him until he'd found that dumb guy, so he might as well take a walk and get some exercise done in the process.

Brett's first guess was a nearby nightmarket with great food, but halfway there, he stopped.

Eddy was very likely upset and when he was, he normally didn't want to be around people. So he must have gone somewhere more secluded and private. The seaside was too far away and there were not many quiet places around, except for that park with the koi fish pond near their apartment.

Brett turned on his heels and headed to the other direction, slowly picking up the pace.

Damn that park for being so big! And there was yet another path he hadn't checked out. The most obvious places had all been Eddy-less and Brett really started to get worried now. His stupid head was picturing various scenes, in which Eddy had either run off because he had enough of him or had gotten hit by a car. None of these helped him make rational decisions, so Brett was basically running around like a headless chicken by now.

The willow forest was not a hit either and he slowly started to lose hope, when he saw a lonely figure sitting on a green hill surrounded by high grass and palm trees. Brett squinted his eyes in order to have a clearer view, but still couldn't tell the identity of the silhouette. The weird sitting posture was a strong indication though, so he jogged his way up there and prayed it might be him.

As Brett came closer, his suspicion got confirmed and he let out a sigh of relief. He slowed down, as he closed the distance between them, a bit unsure what to say.

Eddy looked up and his hair got tousled by a cool breeze, making him look like a God damn K-pop star.

"Hey", he said quietly.
"Hey", Brett mirrored and stood still in front of him.
"You're blocking the sun", Eddy complained. Brett relaxed a bit and smiled.
"The sun went down, dummy."
"Not quite yet. Sit down and watch the sunset with me?" Eddy patted the grass next to him, but Brett hesitated. Did Eddy really want him here after what had happened?

"Eddy, I'm...", he started and looked at his feet, "I'm sorry for before... If I have overstepped any boundaries..."
"I've just recently apologized the same way, remember?", Eddy said with a kind voice, carrying a hint of amusement. Brett lifted his gaze.

"You did nothing wrong, Brett. If anything, I'm sorry for... I don't know... making you very obviously uncomfortable and not even noticing it!?" He suddenly sounded a bit frustrated and ruffled his hair.
"Apparently, I have a very bad sense of personal space, even when it comes to my best bro. So, I get it, if you want to keep your distance."

Brett sighed, slumped down right next to Eddy without leaving an inch of space between them, and crushed Eddy's small finger in the process.

"Ouuch! What was that for?"
"There! I don't care about my personal space shit when it comes to you, Eddy." It was somewhat a bit of a lie, because Eddy being close to him had affected his poor soul like nothing else had in the past weeks! But self-evidently, he couldn't say something so... weird.

And Brett was just tired from all the running, the thinking and although there was a small voice in the back of his head, saying, that his problems this evening had started exactly like that, Brett just couldn't give a damn anymore!

So he softly leaned his head on Eddy's shoulder again. And if it was just to show Eddy, that he really hadn't done anything wrong before, it would have fulfilled it's purpose perfectly.

Eddy turned his head, so he could look at Brett, all coloured in orange and red from the afterglow. He smiled.
"So, you are going to watch the sunset with me."
Brett felt Eddy's arm around him and snuggled even closer.
"You bet I will! I didn't run around looking for you for nothing!"
Eddy winced. "Sorry..."
"Why did you even run off without your phone, bro? Could have at least left a message or something. 'I'm angry at myself, so I have to leave.' That would have sufficed."
"Yeah, that actually would have been a very accurate message", Eddy laughed and tightened his hug.

"I'm sick, you know!", Brett said softly.
"I know!"
"And I shouldn't overexert myself."
"True."
"And I shouldn't worry!"
"True!"
"And didn't you say, you'd take care of me?"
"I wasn't sure, if I wasn't doing the opposite", Eddy said a bit louder, but Brett just made "shhh" and added: "I'm not blaming you or anything, for the record. Just don't do that again. I pictured tons of bad stuff happening to you."
"You did? How sweet."
"Maybe, I just had schadenfreude."
"Doubt it."
"What, you think I'm not mean enough?"
"Not to me you are."
"Should play more pranks on you then."
"Please don't..."
Brett laughed.

They fell into a comfortable silence and watched the sun slowly setting behind the horizon.

"It's such a romantic place", Eddy mused.
"Psst! You're ruining the mood."
Eddy chuckled: "You want it to be romantic then?"
A blush crept on Brett's cheeks. Luckily, everything was drenched in red, so he was pretty sure, Eddy didn't notice.
"I said nothing of that sort!", he tried to play it cool.
"You know, what this reminds me of?", the other asked.
"Hmm?"
"Prelude."
Brett furrowed his brows. "You mean, Jordon's Prelude?"
"Yes! Our Prelude. It's been playing on loop in my head since I've come here."
Brett recalled the sweet melody of the piece they had just recently recorded and uploaded on Youtube. It had become one of his most favourite pieces...

"You're right", he said, "Maybe we could do something here. With this piece..."
"Like an MV or something."
"Or something even bigger...", Brett daydreamed.
"Hmmm..."

"When you're good again, Brett, we're going to do everything you'll ever picture", Eddy whispered, as the sun disappeared and the first stars were twinkling above them.
Brett teared up, not the first time today and he cursed himself for being so emotional, but yet, he couldn't stop himself. Maybe, he thought, maybe here and now, with Eddy, it was okay.

"We're gonna do every project, every video idea, every concert..." Brett's tears started to drip down onto the grass.
"every tour, every apparel design... Whatever you like, we're gonna do it."

The damn broke. Brett turned his head and hid his sobbing self in Eddy's arms. Eddy just hugged him tight and rhythmically stroked over his head, making soothing sounds.

Yes, when he'd be good again, they were going to take over the world!